2000 Years Of Christianity: Episode XII - Gates Of Hell

The Twentieth Century began full of optimism. Technological progress and world travel seemed to be ushering in a golden age. Not long afterward, Europe staggered into the First World War. In nationalistic blindness, "Christian nations" fell upon one another. The collapse primarily plunged the national Lutheran church into a profound crisis.

In Russia, the October revolution put an atheistic dictatorship in power. For Stalin, the destruction of Christianity was a declared objective. Countless priests, monks and believers fell victim to the "great cleansing."

Under National Socialism, Germany was transformed into a racist dictatorship. The Protestant Church was to be turned into a racially pure "German Reich's Church." A "priests' Emergency League" and a "Confessing Church" organized the resistance.

While the church organizations tried to make it through the crises with a large variety of compromises, individual Christians went into the resistance.

This series explores the archaeology and origins of Christianity and how it came into the world. Filmed on location in actual historical and biblical sites, this series features many memorable, full-scale dramatic recreations.